Tennessee

American  

[ten-uh-see] / ˌtɛn əˈsi /

noun

1. a state in the southeastern United States. 42,246 sq. mi. (109,415 sq. km). Nashville. TN (for use with zip code), Tenn.

2. a river flowing from eastern Tennessee through northern Alabama, western Tennessee, and southwestern Kentucky into the Ohio near Paducah. 652 miles (1,050 km) long.

---

Tennessee British  

/ ˌtɛnɪˈsiː /

noun

1. Abbreviation: Tenn.   TN.  a state of the E central US: consists of a plain in the west, rising to the Appalachians and the Cumberland Plateau in the east. Capital: Nashville. Pop: 5 841 748 (2003 est). Area: 109 412 sq km (42 244 sq miles)

2. a river in the E central US, flowing southwest from E Tennessee into N Alabama, then west and north to the Ohio River at Paducah: the longest tributary of the Ohio; includes a series of dams and reservoirs under the Tennessee Valley Authority. Length: 1049 km (652 miles)

---

Tennessee Cultural  

1. State in the south-central United States bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south; and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. Its capital is Nashville, and its largest city is Memphis.

---

Discover More

One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tennessee

They lived in Tennessee in the 1970s and then in Texas from 1980 to 2006.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026

Tennessee held its primaries on Thursday, because Thursday primaries are just how Tennessee rolls.

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026

So Pearson, 31, a Tennessee state lawmaker, asked himself: "Do I quit or stay in the fight?"

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Since 2021, 26 states have reduced their income-tax rates, including New Hampshire and Tennessee, which also eliminated taxes on investment income.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

There’s a ranch in Tennessee called Sweet Dreams Farm that takes in sick and unadoptable animals.

From "The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl" by Stacy McAnulty